Meet the First Openly Gay Eagle Scout

[William769]

A Maryland teenager has become the first openly gay Boy Scout to achieve the youth organization’s highest rank.

Pascal Tessier, 17, accepted the Eagle Scout badge Monday night in Chevy Chase, Md. Tessier, who received the honor at a meeting of Boy Scout Troop 52, is the first known out scout to attain the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank since the organization's national council voted to lift its ban on gay members (but not adult leaders) last May. The new policy went into effect January of this year.

“It’s just really amazing, and it honestly hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Tessier told The Washington Post. “We didn’t know if it was going to happen at all.”

Tessier, who is a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, had risked his chances of becoming an Eagle Scout by participating in a public protest prior to the BSA’s vote last year, an act that could have resulted in his expulsion had the outcome been different. Tessier had launched an online camapaign alongside his older brother, Lucien, a Boy Scout alumnus who had come out shortly after attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.

http://www.advocate.com/youth/2014/02/11/meet-first-openly-gay-eagle-scout

Some good news for a change.

[sheshe2]

1. Good news indeed, William!

[progressoid]

2. And "Order of the Arrow"

[BeeBee]

3. Very good news.

Congratulations to him.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Adding link to WaPo story

An openly gay Eagle Scout achieves a milestone in Montgomery County

[swimboy]

5. A gay Eagle Scout? Well now I've seen everything . . .

. . . oh wait.

I'm married to a gay Eagle Scout!

This is freaking wonderful news! I hope the Scout organization will continue to expand equal access. They have a way to go but I couldn't be happier for the scouts themselves, and this guy in particular!